One Thousand Words
by Yua-hime
Summary: This story is a short collection of moments revolving around three experiments, a Turk, and a mad scientist. It is told mostly from the point of view of a young Turk who begins to question where his loyalties lie as he becomes enchanted by the one thousand words a young girl writes in a series of nine letters.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Okay, first I would like to apologize to anyone reading my other story for uploading this one before that one is finished. That story is still my top priority, however, I have been in a bit of a slump with it and I needed something else to work on to keep my creative juices flowing until inspiration (or simple motivation) hits for that one. But don't worry the next chapter will be up soon.**

**Now as for this story... **

**There are several things that you should know before reading this story. 1) The most important is that this story involves OC's. If you loath OCs, don't read. 2) This is actual more of a background story to a story that I am going to write. Whether I upload that story or keep it to myself depends on the response that this story gets. 3) Finally, this story is a sort of challenge story to myself. There are two parts to it. The first part is the letter, written form an OC character's pov that will be in my following stories. The second part is written from another OC character's pov that will have very little involvement with the other stories, but quite a large influence on the story. Naturally you will only learn about this if you all like this story and want me to continue. **

**_Note: This story and all of it's chapters will have exactly 1000 words of reading, not including the title, but including the letter. The sum of all the letters is equal to 1000 words._**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy 7, Crisis Core, Dirge of Cerberus, Before Crisis, or Advent Children. They are the property of Square Co., Ltd. and their constituents. This was made for entertainment and does not receive any profits.**

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**Chapter 1: The Experiment**

_Tessa,_

_I'm afraid. After they took you, all kinds of people started coming here. I know you went with them on your own. I know you made a deal with the scientist so he would leave me alone._

_They're not leaving me alone, though. Every day they stay for longer and get a little closer. I'm afraid they're going to take me soon, but I don't want to go…_

* * *

"Let go!" a young terrified scream sounded through the small, rather shabby house.

There was no response to the cry, but several crashes and bangs could be heard from inside. The young Turk who had been stationed as a guard cringed a little at the sounds of the struggle. His older and more experienced partner shot him a quick look. He gave a small shake of his head, before quickly facing forward again. The Turk knew that he was being told to ignore it and focus solely on his job, but that didn't make things any easier.

Orvar Maal was only eighteen years old and had only just finished his Turk training a year previous. All of his missions to date were based closer to home and he had only been given missions with a low security level. However he had an outstanding record and apparently his supervisor thought it was time he was sent on a mission of higher risk and secrecy. Why it had to be with the scientists (led by Hojo, no less!) who were going to kidnap a little girl and experiment on her, he had no idea.

As hard as it was to ignore what was happening inside the house, Orvar knew that he had to, because it was his job and he was a Turk. His loyalty was absolute. When the door opened and two scientists walked out with the subject, he had to remind himself of this again. She was young, no older than ten, with long amber hair and wide frightened blue eyes. Her pale skin was tarnished with quickly darkening bruises. Her white lacy dress was dirty and rumpled while her feet were bare.

Hojo walked out after them, his long greasy gray hair and large nose bringing immediate attention to him. A nasty, triumphant smirk was plastered on his face. "We've got what we came for. Burn the place down," he said to the two Turks before striding forward.

A gasp came from the young girl. "No!" she screamed and her struggles began anew. "You can't! You can't burn my house!"

Hojo let out a condescending chuckle. "Silly girl. I can do whatever I want." He walked in front of her and stared menacingly at her, but she stared defiantly back, despite her fear. "You see, you are no longer a person, but a subject. You have no rights to claim that house. Therefor it must go. There will be nothing to that can be tied back to you."

The girl's eyes welled with tears and she was suddenly jerked forward. "No!" she screamed in fear, as she was pulled towards the helicopter that would be taking her to the Shinra Mansion. "Let me go! Let me go!"

Orvar watched as she was finally dragged into the helicopter, which started up shortly afterwards drowning out her screams. Hojo turned from watching the scene and faced the two Turks, a nasty sneer on his face. Orvar couldn't help the disgust and loathing that bubbled up in his stomach at the man. He could see it in Ruluf's eyes too, though the contempt was hidden from anyone who wasn't a Turk and therefor used to looking for the hidden emotions. Orvar was positive that no one liked Hojo, even his own scientists.

"Well what are you waiting for? It's your jobs to cover up this mess, so do them!" he told them commandingly, as if he had any right to order them around.

In truth, despite what he seemed to believe, Hojo had absolutely no authority over the Turks, even those that were left in his service. They had specific orders to do a particular job that coincided with Hojo's work, but that was it. If at any time an "order" given by Hojo went against their orders from the President or their Supervisor, they were to dismiss it. In fact if any "order" by Hojo didn't coincide with their actual orders, but also didn't hinder their orders, they had every right to ignore the creep, since their only job was to follow the presidents orders. And not once had the President ever ordered them to follow Hojo's orders.

Unfortunately Burning down the poor girl's house was within their order parameters, so Orvar and Ruluf had no choice. It was simply unfortunate that that their fulfilling of their original orders would have to come at the price of inflating Hojo's already fit to burst ego. Orvar would have liked nothing more than to put a hole between the scientist's eyes simply to rid the world of his existence. He could even feel his finger twitch when the greasy crook-nosed man looked at them as if they were slow for not getting to it earlier, before he turned muttering about their intelligence or lack thereof, before boarding the helicopter.

"Ugh!" Orvar exclaimed with utmost disgust. "I can't believe they wanted my first top security mission to be with Hojo."

Ruluf let a smirk cross his face. "Don't complain. Someone might here you, and then you'll be stuck with Hojo for a while as punishment."

"Is that how you got into this mess?" Orvar asked, half teasing and half serious, as he and Ruluf walked towards the house and removed their fire material.

Ruluf gave him a look and smirked again. "No, I complained about poorly trained rookies and got stuck with you," he told him

"What!?" Orvar yelped in an undignified way that belied his status as a Turk and Ruluf let out a small laugh at his indignation before they got to work.

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**A/N: And that's it! Short, sweet, and to the point. You'll learn the name of the one writing the letters next chapter, which will be uploaded exactly one weak from today. This story will receive a weekly update, so that i have plenty of time to work on my other story and this ones sequel (which will be written even if it isn't uploaded).**

**I hope you all liked it. I'm a little nervous about my OC's as I don't want to fall into the dangers of Mary-Sue-ness.**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Okay, here's chapter two! You finally learn the girls name, but unfortunately there is still no Cloud and Zack, whom I'm sure everyone has figured out are the other two experiments. They will show up next chapter though.**

**Also, the girls number whih the scientists use to identify her is completely made up and may not be even close to how they do it. I don't actually remember from the game, and I couldn't find how Zack and Clouds were done. I would also like to apologize for the timeline of events, which will become more clear next chapter, because they may be skewed just a little bit.**

**Now then, I would like to thank my guest reviewer zek for their review and I hope they are able to get this chapter and will continue to enjoy reading it.**

****Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy 7, Crisis Core, Dirge of Cerberus, Before Crisis, or Advent Children. They are the property of Square Co., Ltd. and their constituents. This was made for entertainment and does not receive any profits.****

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**Chapter 2: The Talk**

_Tessa,_

_I'm alone. I don't know where they took me, but where I am is dark and small and it smells funny. I'm really scared, because they hurt me. They poked me with a bunch of needles. Sometimes it's to take blood and sometimes the needles have something in them. I always feel sick after they inject me. I wish you were here…_

Orvar had no idea why he was doing this. He really should just leave well enough alone. But for whatever reason, he felt like he had to see the little girl, who had one week previously stopped being a little girl and started being Specimen 20378. He was a Turk, he really shouldn't have been feeling sympathy for her or at least he should be staying away so as not to make things worse. But he simply couldn't. And he was sure it was going to come back to bite him in the ass.

He came to a stop before the thick metal door that led to the cells made especially for human specimens. He was debating with himself whether he truly did wish to do this, as there was still time to back out, when the door suddenly opened and a tall man wearing a white coat came out, almost smashing into him. If it hadn't been for his Turk trained reflexes, Orvar would have been wearing the grayish-white porridge on the tray in his hands. When the scientist saw who it was that he had nearly collided with his eyes widened fractionally and he began to apologize profusely.

"Sorry! I am so sorry! I didn't even see you! Please forgive me!" the man pleaded.

Orvar felt like rolling his eyes. It was ridiculous how much these scientist, and really anyone who wasn't a SOLDIER, treated the Turks. They acted like they would go on a murderous rampage. Some SOLDIERs were treated the same way, but generally speaking they were regarded with respect and admiration. The Turks on the other hand tended to be regarded with fear and suspicion. He supposed he couldn't really blame them, though. It wasn't their fault that the Turks were usually the ones who did all the dirty work for the company.

"It's fine," he snapped and felt just a little pleasure at the way the man's jaw snapped shut. "Just leave me and go about your business."

The man nodded frantically and was just about to leave when he spotted the tray in the Turk's hands. "Is that for the specimen?" he asked and Orvar couldn't help the clench of his jaw. "I can take it, sir," he offered and even began reaching for the tray, but Orvar lifted it away from him and shot the man a glare.

"I said leave me be and go about your business," he said darkly striking some fear into the scientist before walking through the door and allowing it to close behind him.

Once inside it wasn't hard to find the right cell. There weren't that many cells for human experiments and only one of them was currently being occupied. He walked to stand before it and stared at the girl curled up in the corner. After a week she was a complete mess. Her hair was greasy and in severe disarray. Her body was clean, but covered in bruises and small nicks. Her once pure white dress was spattered with blood stains and dirt. When she noticed his presence she looked up to him. He was startled by how haunted her eyes were. The look was only made worse by the black shadows under her eyes case by a lack of good sleep.

"You're new," she spoke and though her voice was soft and rough from screaming it raw, it carried easily in the empty stone chamber.

"Not really," he told her nonchalantly. "I just have a different job than the people you see."

"You're not wearing white," she pointed out.

"I'm not a scientist. I'm a Turk." He wondered how she would react to that news.

"I like you better than them," she said.

"Really?" He asked in surprise.

The girl nodded. "You don't hurt me."

"Maybe not, but I'm responsible for keeping you here and keeping them safe. Does that not bother you?"

The way she stared at him was unsettling and when she spoke, her words startled him. "Does it bother you?"

There was silence following the question. The girl looked simply curious, as if she didn't understand what she had asked or what it could insinuate. Orvar, on the other hand, was paler than before. It was unnerving, the kind of insight that children could have sometimes, but the most unnerving thing, was that he didn't have an answer for her. It was this realization that told him that he couldn't do this again. He shouldn't have come to see her and he would not be doing it again.

"I brought your dinner," he said brusquely as he pushed the meal under the bars towards her. He needed to get out of there.

The girl merely looked at him and blinked. He couldn't stand to look into her deep blue eyes and was about to turn when she spoke. "What's your name?"

It was a simple question and yet Orvar felt like, if he answered, he would be hitting the nail into his coffin. So he stayed silent. When he didn't answer, she turned from him and began to dig a little at her food. Orvar didn't let himself relax and took her moment of distraction to leave. Before he could actually leave the room, though, she spoke again.

"They call me Specimen 20378." Her soft voice stopped him in his tracks and for some reason, he found himself incapable of moving. One hand on the door, he couldn't escape her next words. "But that's not really my name. It's Freyja."

The second she had finished speaking, Orvar was gone. He would definitely not be doing this again.

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**A/N: Okay, that it. I hope it was enjoyable and didn't seem forced or anything. They're my characters, but that doesn't mean that they won't sound forced. Anyway, the next chapter will be up next week on Sunday. See you then!**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Okay, so this is rather late, but I got distracted with School and Work, so it couldn't be helped.**

**Zack and Cloud finally show up, but it's only a little at the end. Either way, I hope Zack, the only one with dialogue, is in character...**

**There's a line in this that Zack speaks that doesn't make sense, but it will be explained in a later chapter.**

**Just a little warning to anyone reading this story, the next chapter may be a little late, because I'm going to be focusing a lot of attention on the next chapter of my Crossing Boundaries fic.**

**I'd like to thank Yukio87 who has decided to follow and favorite this story. Thanks a bunch for your support! I hope you enjoy this chapter!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy 7, Crisis Core, Dirge of Cerberus, Before Crisis, or Advent Children. They are the property of Square Co., Ltd. and their constituents. This was made for entertainment and does not receive any profits.**

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**Chapter 3: The Confrontation**

_Tessa,_

_Something new happened today. I got some cell mates. They're a lot older than me and they're both boys, but that's okay, because they're really cool. One of them is really tall and he has glowing eyes just like the SOLDIERs do. He's really nice too. His name is Zack. His friend, his name's Cloud, is shorter and his eyes are normal, but he's just as cool. He has a softer voice and likes to tease his friend. They make me laugh a lot._

_I'm glad they're here, even though I really wished they weren't. I like them, so I don't want them to get hurt like me, but they make me feel safe and comfortable. They're really brave and even talk back to Hojo. It makes me feel brave too. I feel like, if I stay with them, I'll be okay._

* * *

Orvar was trying very hard not to get involved with the specimens after his last encounter with the young girl. For a week and a half he had done very well. It wasn't all that hard, particularly because the Turks were there to protect Hojo if any of his experiments got out of hand or to dispose of anything (or anybody) that might put the secrecy of Hojo's experiments in danger. The girl wasn't exactly a prime candidate for dangerous experiments. In fact she wasn't even similar to the types of specimens Hojo usually liked for his experiments.

Unfortunately, life was never fair, so Orvar's days of ease came to an abrupt halt with the arrival (or more accurately, the recovery) of two other Specimens. These particular specimens were going to be trouble, or at least one of them was. Unfortunately that meant, while Orvar could pretty much pretend the girl didn't exist, he was going to be constantly seeing, and possibly even interacting with the other two. To make matters worse, they were both from Shinra.

It was all the information Orvar had, but he didn't need any more to know that this was going to be the worst assignment ever. Not only were they from Shinra, after all, but one of them was a SOLDIER. That meant that the specimen, at some point down the line, had been one of his comrades in arms.

"Stop fidgeting. We've been trained to handle enemies much stronger than ourselves," Ruluf said from beside him.

Orvar cast a small glance his way. "Doesn't it bother you just a little that we're protecting Shinra scientists from a SOLDIER?" he asked. Maybe it was a stupid question, but Orvar remembered working with a couple of SOLDIERs and he knew everyone else had as well. It wasn't as if they had a particularly bad relationship with each other, either, so the situation was even more complicated.

Ruluf stopped abruptly, forcing Orvar to turn towards him to hear his answer. The look on Ruluf's face was considering, as if he were trying to find the best way to explain something to a child. It made Orvar squirm.

"In this life, there's no such thing as 'comrades'," Ruluf told him. "The closest thing you might find is another Turk, since we all answer to the President. For everyone else, though, they're simply people whose goals happen to align with ours for a time. The moment our goals diverge or conflict, we are no longer 'comrades'." With that, Ruluf began to walk again, but it took Orvar a minute to begin following him, his stomach hollow and his mind buzzing with the disheartening words.

When the two Turks made it to the lab Orvar realized just how bad his luck truly was. The two subjects were making quite a racket from their restrained positions on the hard metal slabs. One was particularly tall and muscular with wild black hair and glowing, blue eyes. He wore the uniform of a First Class and not one scientist stood closer than three feet. The second was wearing an Infantryman's uniform and had spikey blond hair and bright, but natural, blue eyes. He was obviously not as strong as the SOLDIER, but he was just as determined to get away and the scientists were keeping their distance from him as well.

Where Orvar's luck gave out, was that he recognized the SOLDIER in question. There weren't that many First Class SOLDIERs, so anyone from Shinra would recognize Zack Fair, but Orvar knew Zack on a more personal level. They had worked several missions together and had actually gotten along rather well. Orvar had considered them friends, to the point that Turks were capable of having friends. Orvar only now understood just how limited that capability was.

Zack noticed the new comers almost immediately and Orvar cursed his damnable luck. He felt his stomach twist the moment the sharp blue gaze landed on him and it only worsened when those eyes flashed with betrayal and then with white hot anger. Orvar did his best to keep his face impassive. Whether it worked or not was debatable.

"You!" Zack growled.

Orvar didn't flinch until the restraints finally did snap, and over two-hundred pounds of pure muscle and rage flew towards him. He was quick to dodge the attack and with the help of Ruluf and a particularly brave scientist, they were able to restrain him once again.

"So this is your Truth."

The words were said with a slur and the tone was rather casual and accepting, but they were like ice cold fingers wrapping around Orvar's heart. He seemed to be in a trance as his eyes stayed locked with the hazy blue ones in front of him, until a hand landed firmly on his shoulder. He snapped to awareness and looked to Ruluf.

"He's not a SOLDIER," Ruluf said.

Orvar nodded and repeated the mantra over and over in his head as he watched Zack's eyes slip closed as he succumbed to the drug. He hoped that if he repeated them enough, he might actually start to believe them.

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**A/N: Okie Doki! That's a wrap! There wasn't much, but I hope you still enjoy it. Let me know what you thought, 'kay?**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: It's not my Crossing Boundaries story, but I'm having a bit of writer block on it and this was what was coming to mind. I actually really like Orvar, even if he's very gray and does nothing to help Zack, Cloud, and Freyja. He hates Hojo, which is a plus, and I feel like I was able to make a good character who's conflicted, but real, and generally likable. I hope, at least.**

**Anyway, if anyone actually reads this story, I hope you enjoy! If not, well, I enjoyed writing it, so yay!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy 7, Crisis Core, Dirge of Cerberus, Before Crisis, or Advent Children. They are the property of Square Co., Ltd. and their constituents. This was made for entertainment and does not receive any profits.**

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**Chapter 4: The Specimens**

_Tessa,_

_Zack and Cloud are really great! They've been telling me all kinds of stories and making me think of all the good times._

_They found out about my letters, and at first I was afraid. I don't know why I was afraid, because I know that they would never hurt me and they would definitely never tell Hojo about my letters, but I was anyway. They were really nice, just like normal, though, and they even decided to teach me some new words that I don't know and even other languages!_

_I also showed them some of my drawings. They're not very good, because rocks are hard to draw with and the wall is hard to draw on, but they told me they thought they were really good for what I had to work with. I have a feeling they weren't just being nice._

* * *

Orvar suppressed a flinch when he heard another scream echo through the halls. He was doing his regular rounds through the facility, but he was nowhere near the experimentation rooms. It had been nearly a year since he was stationed at Shinra Manor. Throughout his time there, he had leaned many things. He had learned to hide his discomfort behind a mask of indifference. He had learned to eat his meals and actually keep them down. He had learned how to be silent when he slept and the harsh realities of his job found him. He had learned to hide.

Orvar briefly wondered if he would even be able to find his conscience again after always hiding it away deep inside his heart. He was quick to dismiss the thought before it could affect him. In the place he now found himself, sentimentality was the enemy. He was a Turk and he couldn't afford to feel sympathy for a couple of experiments who likely wouldn't survive for more than a few years, if even that.

Still, the screaming made it hard to concentrate. It was rare that all three of the Specimens were experimented on together. It made them all more violent and harder to deal with, especially Zack. Orvar suspected this was why Hojo liked to do it sometimes. He enjoyed seeing how they all reacted to each other's pain. It was a different type of experimentation.

Today was obviously one of those days, because he could hear the different pitches of their screams meshing together like some sort of sick symphony. As soon as he realized what was happening, Orvar stopped his patrolling and headed towards the experimentation rooms. If he and Ruluf weren't there, Hojo and the other scientists would be in danger. Orvar almost felt like slowing down when he thought of this. Instead, he pushed his body to go faster.

"There you are," Ruluf said when he saw Orvar and they continued their journey to the labs together.

"I was on the other side of the mansion," he said. "If Hojo wants us there before someone loses an arm, he needs to tell us before he puts those three together."

Ruluf gave a wry smile. "I don't think he cares if any of his scientists lose an arm."

"He'd probably use them as a shield," Orvar said in agreement.

As soon as the two Turks walked into the experimentation room, Orvar felt his stomach drop a little, but he made sure to keep his discomfort from his face. The three specimens were strapped to hard metal tables, writhing in pain. Several IV needles protruded from each of them, forcing sickly green liquid and other contents that Orvar would rather not think about into their bodies. If he focused hard enough, he knew he would be able to see the veins of the specimens bulging under their skin and giving off a glow that no human being should.

But Orvar made an effort not to focus on this, or the horrible inhuman screams of sheer agony that came from the three's mouths. Instead he focused on the straining limbs of the two men as they pulled against their restraints. If they kept at it, the stress they were causing would shatter the metal restraints, just as they had before. Orvar knew it shouldn't be possible, because they were made to withstand a first class SOLDIERs strength. But fear, desperation, and pure unadulterated hatred as well as an extra dose of the Planet's life blood could make just about anything possible.

"Excellent! Excellent!" Hojo said with glee.

Orvar's hand twitched minutely, but otherwise he didn't react to Hojo's insanity. Instead, he kept himself ready to interfere in case the specimens got loose. It's a good thing he did stay alert, because the moment Hojo was close enough, Zack broke free from his restraints and attacked him like crazed animal. Orvar and Ruluf waited only long enough for him to make a good swing at Hojo's face before they moved to restrain him.

It took a lot of struggling, maneuvering, and one scientist who showed enough bravery to approach and fill one of the IV lines with a sedative, before the two Turks were able to get Zack restrained again on the metal slab. Once he was sure it was safe, Orvar looked to see how much had been done to Hojo's face. The scientist was holding his nose and cursing up a storm as blood dropped onto the floor through his fingers. Orvar felt a twinge of satisfaction in his chest at the sight. It was nice to know that at least one of the many blood splatters on the ground belonged to the sick bastard and not one of his specimens or "disposable" subordinates.

"Serves the bastard right," Ruluf said after they had left the room.

Orvar nodded in agreement, but remained silent in fear that he might crack. He wondered how long he could continue to do this. Was this really his Truth, as Zack had said? Orvar wasn't sure, but he felt like he was being eaten alive inside.

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**A/N: And that's it. I might actually even have the next chapter up in a week or so, too. I don't know why my muses are working for this story and not the other right now, but as long as I'm writing, I think it's good. Just as always, the chapter was 1000 words. I have five chapters left before I'm finished with this little prequel like story and can begin the actual story, which will be fun, but also difficult to write...**


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